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I assure this committee that, if I am confirmed, I will be strictly independent of all political influences... essential to that institution's ability to function effectively and achieve its mandated objectives.

Ben Bernanke

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More quotes by Ben Bernanke

If you are not happy with yourself, even the loftiest achievements won't bring you much satisfaction.

Among the largest banks, the capital ratios remain good and I don’t expect any serious problems . . . . among the large, internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system.

The more important reason is that the research itself provides an important long-run perspective on the issues that we face on a day-to-day basis.

The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.

The American people are among the most productive in the world. We have the best technologies. We have - great universities. We have entrepreneurs.

It's true that the Federal Reserve faces a lot of political pressure and is unpopular in many circles.

The Federal Reserve will not monetize the debt.

I am very proud of my nerd-dom.

Economics is a very difficult subject. I've compared it to trying to learn how to repair a car when the engine is running.

The economic repercussions of a stock market crash depend less on the severity of the crash itself than on the response of economic policymakers, particularly central bankers.

Economics is a highly sophisticated field of thought that is superb at explaining to policymakers precisely why the choices they made in the past were wrong. About the future, not so much.

To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above.

Speaking as somebody who has been happily married for 35 years, I can't imagine any choice more consequential for a lifelong journey than the choice of a traveling companion.

The benefit of appointing a hawkish central banker is the increased inflation-fighting credibility that such an appointment brings.

In the future, my communications with the public and with the markets will be entirely through regular and formal channels.

Under a cold turkey strategy, at each policy meeting the Federal Open Market Committee would make its best guess about where it ultimately wants the funds rate to be and would move to that rate in a single step.

One might as well try to perform brain surgery with a sledgehammer.